Jute
From Freepedia
- Jute is also occasionally used to refer to Jutes, a Germanic people of Europe.
Contents |
What is Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny plant fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which see for botanical information and other uses. Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibres, and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin. It falls into the Bast fiber category (fiber collected from bast or skin of the plant) along with Kenaf, Industrial Hemp, Ramie, Rattan, Soybean fiber, and even Vine fibers & Banana fibers.
Jute is called in different names in different parts of the world. For instance, jute fiber is often called Hessian Fiber, jute fabrics are also called Hessian Cloth, and jute sacks are called Gunny Bags in some European countries. The fabric made from Jute is popularly known as Burlap in North America. In Spanish, Jute is called Yute and Jute fabrics are called Arpillera. Due to the confusion with Jute (The German race), the jute fiber is called Jutefaser in German. The Portuguese and Brazillians call it Juta. The Italians also adopted the name Juta, but the most popular name is Iuta and some call it Corcoro. In Chinese, Jute is called Huang-ma (黄麻), which means Yellow Hemp, as Jute is very similar to Industrial Hemp and blooms yellow flowers.
- Multi-lingual research by GFTCL
Jute Fiber
The bast fibers are procured by a method that is called retting. This process is done by microbial (or water), steam, and mechanical process. For jute, the century old and most popular retting process is the microbial or water retting. The water retting process releases the lignin bond between the parenchyma and the sclerenchyma, which makes it easy to procure the skin from the core. However, the retting process is further continued with washing and drying to release the pectin bond that makes the hard skin into fine thread-like fibers.
After the procurement of jute fiber, jute is graded (rated) according to its colour, strength, and fibre length. The fibres are off-white to brown, and 1-4 m long. Jute is pressed into bales for shipment to manufacturers.
- Strength of the Jute fiber
- Jute is bio-degradable and replenishes earth nutrients
- Jute posses no threat to the environment because it neither emits toxic gases nor harmful chemicals
- Jute will not cause the problems like the synthetic material in waste management cycles through emitting hazardous gases during incineration of landfill sites
- Jute makes durable and strong packing, handling of which is easier
- Jute packing does not break and hooks can be used without any damage
- A new Jute bag can be used several times before it is torn out. Again there is also option for recycling
- Jute bags can hold well when stacked for storage and aeration for long term storage
- Recent scientific tests revealed that Jute Carpet Backing Cloth (J-CBC) is less flammable, produce less smoke, generates fewer toxic gases than backings made from synthetic polymers
- The Weakness of Jute Fiber
- Moist condition, usually more than 60% of moisture can reduce the tensile strength of the Jute Fibre
- Acidic contact or atmosphere can reduce the luster as well as tensile strength
- Pectin and lignin bonds inherited in Raw Jute can rot or deteorate the quality of the Jute Fibre. However, this weakness can be overcome by proper retting, washing, and drying process.
Cultivation
Jute is a rainy season crop, growing best in warm, humid climates. Almost 85% of the world's jute cultivation is concentrated in The Ganges delta. This fertile geographic region is shared by both Bangladesh and India (West Bengal). China also has a dominating place in jute cultivation. In small scale, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan also cultivates jute.
To grow jute, farmers scatter the seeds on cultivated soil. When the plants are about 15-20 cm tall, they are thinned out. About four months after planting, harvesting begins. The plants are usually harvested after they flower, but before the flowers go to seed. The stalks are cut off close to the ground. The stalks are tied into bundles and retted (soaked) in water for about 20 days. This process softens the tissues and permits the fibres to be separated. The fibres are then stripped from the stalks in long strands and washed in clear, running water. Then they are hung up or spread on thatched roofs to dry. After 2-3 days of drying, the fibres are tied into bundles.
See also Jute cultivation.
Use of Jute
Jute is said to have more than 1000 uses. It is the second most important vegetable fiber after cotton; not only for wide cultivation, but also for uses. Jute is used chiefly to make cloth for wrapping bales of raw cotton, and to make sacks and coarse cloth. The fibres are also woven into curtains, chair coverings, carpets, hessian cloth, and backing for linoleum. However, jute is being replaced by synthetic materials for many these uses, though the importance of biodegradation in some situations where artificial fibres are unsuitable leaves some uses open to jute. Examples of such uses include containers for planting young trees which can be planted directly with the container without disturbing the roots, and land restoration where jute cloth prevents erosion occurring while natural vegetation becomes established.
The fibres are used alone or blended with other types of fibres to make twine and rope. Jute butts, the coarse ends of the plants, are used to make inexpensive cloth. Conversely, very fine threads of jute can be separated out and made into imitation silk. Jute fibres can also be used to make paper, and with increasing concern over forest destruction for the wood pulp used to make most paper, the importance of jute for this purpose may increase. Jute has a long history of use in the sackings, carpets, wrapping fabrics (cotton bale), construction fabric manufacturing idustry.
Jute Industry
World's largest Jute trade & Jute processing economy is located in Bangladesh. Adamjee Jute Mill in Narayanganj, Bangladesh was world's largest jute mill with 1,939 looms and 25,000 employees upto 2002 when mill was closed. Still there are plenty of jute millls located in Bangladesh. Sonali Aansh is now one of the largest jute products manufacturers in Bangladesh.
However, India has become a gateway of jute products to the world and Bangladesh is the only source for them to collect high quality raw jute and fibers.
In China, there are very few mills that are specialized for manufacturing jute products. However, jute is being widely used in their traditional textile mills, where jute is just another fiber among others like - silk, ramie, and flax.
History of Jute (The Fiber)
For centuries, Jute has been an integral part of Bengali culture, which is shared by Both Bangladesh and West Bengal of India. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the raw jute fibers ware exported to the United Kingdom, where it was then processed in mills concentrated in Dundee ("Jute Weaver" was a recognised trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970 due to the entrance of synthetic fibers.
In 50's and 60's when nylon and polythene were rarely used; The United Pakistan (then the world leader in Jute products) was earning money through Jute of East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. It was called The Golden Fiber of Bangladesh, when it used to bring major portion of the foreign currency reserve for Bangladesh. But, as the use of polythene and other synthetic materials as a substitute for jute started to capture the market; most economist said that jute industry is experiencing a sunset. Thus the industry of this Golden fiber turned into a sunset industry. For several years, farmers in Bangladesh burnt their crops as they did not get proper price. Many exporters that were dealing with jute, found other commodities to deal with. The jute related organizations and government bodies also experienced closures, change, and fund cutting. The long hybernation of demand, forced the largest jute mill in the world (Adamjee Jute Mills) to close. But, the farmers of Bangladesh suprisingly did not stop growing jute; mainly due to demand in the internal market.
During 1941, Henry Ford tested the strength of a car trunk made from soybean fiber (one of the bast fibers). The trunk was made of soy-protein plastic reinforced with glass, which was stronger, lighter, and more flexible than conventional car panels. This experiment revolutionized the use of natural fibers in the Automobile Industry and made cars lighter to burn less gasolene. The previously used glass fiber proved to be very heavy and emitted poisonous gas when burnt. Therefore, most people died of poisonous gas inhalation, not by wounds during car accidents. This fact has driven European Union to ban the use of Glass fiber in automobiles. When Henry Ford's experiment gained huge response, the automobile companies started to search for other bast fibers, as soyabean fiber had problems in moulding. They found that, Flax was the best Bast fiber for the automobile interior production. But, jute was recognized as the next to the best (Flax) at a quite late time. In some cases, jute has become the better option than Flax in producing car interiors. Moreover, jute proved to be the most cost effective fiber in this sector, as jute is the cheapest vegetable fiber with very high tensile strength.
Not only the automobile industry, jute has entered various diversified sectors, where natural fibers are gradually becoming better substitution. Among these industries are: Paper, Celluloid products (Films), Nonwoven composite (Psydo-wood), Nonwoven textiles (for car interiors and other uses), and Geotextile.
Geotextile is another fact that made this agricultural commodity more popular in the agricultural sector. It is a lightly woven fabric made from natural fibers that is used for soil erossion control, seed protection, weed control, and many other agricultural and landscaping uses. The geotextiles can be used more than a year and the bio-degradable jute geotextile left to rot on the ground keeps the ground cool and is able to make the land more fertile. This brings new hope in turning the deserts into Oasis. This fact seems like, it is possible to transfer the fertility of the Ganges Delta to the deserts of Sahara or Australia.
Moreover, jute can be grown in 4-6 months with huge amount of cellulose from Jute hurd (Inner woody core or parenchyma of the Jute stem) that can meet most of the wood needs of the world. Jute is the major crop among others that is able to protect deforestration by industrialization.
Thus, jute is the most enviroment-friendly fiber starting from the seed to expired fiber, as the expired fibers can be recycled more than once.
And now, most economist are saying, "Jute is the Fiber of the Future". Jute has again proved the old saying true, "Traditional and natural commodities are never old fashioned and never out-of-date". This Golden fiber of the past would again rule the fiber needs in the future.
Some Features of Jute
- Jute is 100% bio-degradable & recyclable and thus environment friendly.
- It is a natural fiber with golden & silky shine, and hence nicknamed as The Golden Fiber
- It is the most cheap vegetable fiber procured from the bast or skin of the plant's stem
- It is the second most important vegetable fiber after cotton
- It has high tensile strength with low extensibility, this helps to make best quality industrial yarn and fabric
- It is one of the most versatile natural fibers that has been used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile, construction, and agricultural sectors
- Jute plant is derived from a relative of the Hemp (Cannabis) plant. However, Jute is totally free from narcotic elements and odor
- The best varieties are Bangla Tossa - Chorchorus olitorius (Golden shine) & Bangla White - Corchorus capsularis (Silvery Shine)
- The best source of Jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plane (Ganges Delta), most of which is occupied by Bangladesh.
Jute in Pictures
Pictures of Jute Plant (Chorchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis).
Picture of cutting lower part of the long jute fiber. The lower part is hard fiber, which is called jute cuttings. Jute Cuttings is lower in quality, but has commercial value to paper, carded yarn, and other fiber processing indutries. Jute fibers are kept in bundles in the background in a warehouse in Bangladesh.
Picture of both the fibers of Chorchorus olitorius (Tossa Jute Fiber) and Corchorus capsularis (White Jute Fiber).
External links
A UN collaboration for learning various aspects of Jute and Kenaf. Its headquarter is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Site to know about some features of Jute.
Site to know about some features of Tossa Jute.
The Institute in Bangladesh dedicated for Jute Research.
The site has some features about jute and links to various jute related organizations and resources.
